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super garage

When you have so much money you can buy a house that Bruce Wayne would be envious of but when Bruce gets insanely jealous of your garage, you have been doing something right. Molecule is an architecture firm located in Melbourne, Australia and they were hired to renovate a “1929 heritage house” for their client. The mission was to renovate, modernize, and alter the house without compromising the historical design and integrity. Something easier said then done when you consider the client wanted a personal movie theater, all modern bells and whistles, also some place to park an extensive collection of cars that anyone would be happy to trade their mother in-law for. Sorry mom, but come on!

This conceptual site sketch shows the orientation of the garage between the existing home, the tennis court and pool.

This 1929 estate was built before garages were a main staple in every house, since the automobile became an integral part of just about everyone’s life. Adding an addition or a separate building to house the growing car collection wasn’t an option. Seeing how it would alter the exterior and not to mention the fact the house was shoehorned into a narrow property (by mansion standards), there was not enough room to build. Molecule Studios came up with a clever idea borrowed from what we see in many commercial buildings in our downtown business areas and the Batman movies. They placed the 12 car garage underground with a secrete entrance located under the adjacent tennis court.

The 12 seat theater was then placed at the end of the pivoting point of the hydraulically lifted garage door/ceiling/tennis court and above the garage. Even the connection from the garage to the home was kept hidden away from the exterior view. They designed a stair case that enters the home through the floor of the living room on the 1st floor.

While this underground garage idea is nothing new, the cool factor is so high seeing how someone actually has a Bat Cave Garage identical to what is in the movie. Pretty cool!! The rest of the house borders between a mix of modern and traditional. A bit too high end looking for me but credit is due where credit is due.